My new Mark IIB

[thecek]

Hi everyone,
This is my firs post. I'm a italian guy and I'm sorry for my bad english, but in Italy there are no forums on mesa boogie.
Yesterday I bought a mesa mark IIB and it seems to me in really good conditions, but I don't know so much about this kind of amps...I'm a marshall plexi guy until the other day
The amp is 100% original. It comes with
-no reverb
-effects loop
-slave out
-graphic eq
-100/60W (no simul class)
-voltage selector


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Can someone provide me more information? For example the year, and some tricks...

 

[thecek]

nobody?

this is a video of the amp.
soon I'm going to record a comparison between the 2B, an old fender bandmaster and my plexi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PfEruLmWTM&list=UUpKbRdquvoiVN0C-KLnC2SA&index=1

 

[Seanboy]

Welcome to the Boogie Family, that's a beautiful amp! I've got a Mark III, so I'm not sure if the settings and tricks would be the same, I'd be interested to know how similar the settings would be.

Sean

 

[Rhoads]

Welcome my friend !! Wow nice amp 8)
For the date, you have to check under the chassis where the tube are. You gonna find a hand write date with a magic marker.

And for the rest of your question check some topic like this one http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=59554
or ask to "mark2boogie" he knows everything about Mark IIA nad Mark IIB

 

[thecek]

Hi Sean...At the moment, my settings for a warm blues to hard rock tone are:
-V1: 6
-T:8/pulled
-B:2
-M:2
-M1: as much as I can
-LD: 5
-LM: generally about 2-3
-EQ: it's a little scooped on the mids and pushed on the 6.6K
-presence it's around 8-9
The amp runs 60W in 4ohm
Tubes in the power stage are mesa 6L6 GC str-415. In the preamp are mesa 12ax7, but I'm going to try other tubes in this stage.

On the pedalboard I have two main overdrive pedals. The first is the classic ibanez TS808 with all knobs on 12 o'clock (sometimes I set the tone knob at 1/4). The second is a "tube screamer-esque" overdrive, called overcat drive made by Advance, a nice italian brand. I use this pedal as a boost with little gain, good for drive a clean sound.
the two pedals engaged together give me a nice lead tone with smooth highs.

 

[thecek]

Welcome my friend !! Wow nice amp 8)
For the date, you have to check under the chassis where the tube are. You gonna find a hand write date with a magic marker.

Thanks...
Next to the power is written "981". May it mean 1981?
..But..I've seen you have a C+.
In italy it's pretty difficult to find these amps (not only the c+, but also the mark1 and mark2 series in general). One friend of mine has got the C+ coliseum..it's awesome.

 

[MK IIB]

On the pedalboard I have two main overdrive pedals. The first is the classic ibanez TS808 with all knobs on 12 o'clock (sometimes I set the tone knob at 1/4). The second is a "tube screamer-esque" overdrive, called overcat drive made by Advance, a nice italian brand. I use this pedal as a boost with little gain, good for drive a clean sound.
the two pedals engaged together give me a nice lead tone with smooth highs.

Why do a lot of people use various overdrive pedals for their lead sound when they have a boogie mark amp?I love the overdrive sound on a MKIIB.I just don't understand why so many people use pedals for their lead sound?As a slight booster for the "clean" channel yeah but why for the lead sound?

 

[thecek]

On the pedalboard I have two main overdrive pedals. The first is the classic ibanez TS808 with all knobs on 12 o'clock (sometimes I set the tone knob at 1/4). The second is a "tube screamer-esque" overdrive, called overcat drive made by Advance, a nice italian brand. I use this pedal as a boost with little gain, good for drive a clean sound.
the two pedals engaged together give me a nice lead tone with smooth highs.

Why do a lot of people use various overdrive pedals for their lead sound when they have a boogie mark amp?I love the overdrive sound on a MKIIB.I just don't understand why so many people use pedals for their lead sound?As a slight booster for the "clean" channel yeah but why for the lead sound?

you're right, but for me there are three main reasons...
the first is that I use the same pedalboard with my marshall plexy, which is a single-channel amp, so you can't get a lead tone without pedals.
Second, generally I don't use every OD at the same time. I use different OD for different tones. One is setted for single coil guitars, while another is setted for humbucking guitars. For example, maybe the humbucker is too bright? No problem, I close the tone knob of the TS808.
Third, I don't use OD pedals like distortion pedals. I use them more like a boost. In my opnion, if you want a more overdriven tone is better to use two gain stage, so you can adjust the tone more effectively.